Utopia, Zootopia

The history of the metropolis of Zootopia starts in a school play performed in the rural town of Bunny Burrows. Young bunny Judy Hopps (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin) is an over-eager little rabbit who is set on not following her parents (Don Lake and Bonnie Hunt) into carrot farming, but rather — to everyone’s dismay — on becoming a police officer. The problem? That’s a field typically populated by larger mammals like rhinos and hippos.

In the Disney movie Zootopia, the animals have decided that the predator/prey lifestyle has reached a primitive dead end, and that living together in harmony is the way to go and animals could be anything they want to be, much like people?

Fifteen years later, Judy — unbowed by naysayers and dream dashers and supported by Mayor Lionheart (J.K. Simmons) and his sheep assistant mayor (Jenny Slate) — becomes Zootopia’s first bunny cop. Assigned to the city’s urban center, she reports to a buffalo police chief (Idris Elba) who sees the tiny female bunny to be good only for dispensing parking tickets.

On her first day, she’s tricked by a con artist fox named Nick (Jason Bateman). But when given the opportunity to solve her first case, involving an otter who’s gone missing, Judy realizes Nick may be just the kind of wily operative who can help her. Nick, who doesn’t buy the rosy “anyone can be anything” ethos of Zootopia, is naturally reluctant.

The two become buddies and the movie turns into a comedy/detective story. The film includes a “nudist” hippie yak (Tommy Chong), a fast-talking weasel (Alan Tudyk), and a crime boss named Mr. Big,  who in reality is a tiny shrew. And while it may sound obvious to populate the Department of Motor Vehicles with sloths, I found myself laughing out loud at the irony of it all.

The investigation also takes them into some of Zootopia’s climate-and-terrain-specific boroughs, which include snowy Tundratown, and the lush, tree-intensive Rain Forest District.

Eventually, Judy and Nick uncover something more wide-reaching and nefarious than a missing mammal: an engineered plot by a mysterious villain to return predators to their once-savage, uncivilized nature. Interestingly, while the investigation and conspiracy stuff make for some schematically draggy moments, they also trigger the movie’s admirably thorny passages regarding its message about the treatment of others, and the pitfalls of prejudice.

What started as Judy and Nick bickering about how each views the other — “cute” and “dumb” for bunnies, and “sly” for foxes — becomes a larger crisis when citywide panic leads to certain animals being viewed as potential threats, and treated as second-class citizens. (This surely reminds us of the stereotyping we see today.)

Judy’s attempt to convince Nick by saying “You’re not like them” backfires, as it always has in the history of race relations.

If that makes Zootopia, which is directed by Byron Howard, Rich Moore and Jared Bush, sound like a downer, it’s not. Goodwin’s bouncy performance and Bateman’s well-honed comic delivery are a perfect match, and there are a whole slew of lively characters and happy scenes to keep movie humming at a wonderful pace.

I enjoyed Zootopia. All of the animals are cute and cool — even the bad guys. Action sequences are tight, exciting, and a joy to watch.  I found myself scanning each scene closely, and sitting on edge to follow the film’s dialogue.

Unlikely duo: From the Disney movie Zootopia — young bunny Judy Hopps (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin) and con artist fox named Nick (Jason Bateman)